Aquatic resistance training equipment

ABSTRACT

A piece of aquatic training equipment is provided that comprises a glove, made substantially from neoprene, for, in use receiving a user&#39;s hand. The glove is provided with a pocket that can receive one or more pieces of closed cell foam so as to varying its buoyancy. The pocket is located so that the foam is wrapped around the hand to produce ergonomically and uniformly balanced buoyancy in the glove.

The present invention relates to aquatic training equipment. Inparticular the present invention relates to exercise gloves for usingunderwater.

In general the area of aquatic fitness is growing and underwaterexercises, including but not limited to underwater boxing, sometimesreferred to as aqua boxing, not to be confused with the traditional landbased martial art known as water boxing, and deep-water running areknown training styles.

Aquatic training has commonly been used for injury therapy and generalfitness but more recently has been adopted by elite sport for “activerecovery”. The human body in most races is semi-buoyant in water. Whenthe body is in a vertical position (such as when deep water running)water offers three dimensional resistance and support to the body aidingdecompression of the spine and other weight bearing joints. This canaccelerate injury recovery without compromise.

For therapeutic purposes training in water, or underwater, can bebeneficial as it can reduce impact upon joints and, more importantly,hydrostatic pressure creates physical compression of the muscles whichreduces the likelihood of further muscle strain or injury.

Furthermore, as water has a higher density than air it generates asignificant resistance that serves to curb concussion and reduces thesuddenness and impact from movement that is in itself beneficial inpreventing muscle injury or strains and makes simple body movements usefar greater energy, thereby working the muscles harder, but in a mannerless likely to result in injury due to the support of the water asdescribed above.

Underwater boxing comprises boxing and/or kick-boxing exercises,sometimes known as shadow boxing, performed alone wherein punches arethrown substantially underwater, or through the surface of the water,i.e. partially below water and partially above water.

Deep-water running comprises jogging exercises, performed on the spot orwhile moving through water, in water deep enough that the majority ofthe body is submerged. Deepwater running is beneficial in assisting instreamlining running movements and improving body biomechanics due tothe enhanced effect of resistance and drag that is felt by the athlete.Furthermore, as the body's weight is supported by the water, less stressis placed on the body which is beneficial when recovering fromperformance or injury.

It is known in the art to hold floats in the hands when performing suchexercises to increase the resistance to movement of the hands and upperbody/limbs through the water. These floats generally comprise a piecesubstantially rectangular or oval foam with two holes therein. The wristis placed through one hole and the hand passes through the other hole tohold the end of the float adjacent the hole which acts as a handle. Anexample of such a prior art training aid is shown in FIG. 1.

It is the purpose of the present invention to provide an improved devicefor use in underwater exercises, and especially for the improvement ofdeep water running biomechanics.

According to the present invention there is provided aquatic trainingequipment comprising a glove for, in use, receiving a user's handwherein said glove is provided with means for varying the buoyancy ofsaid glove.

By enabling the user to vary the buoyancy of the glove differenttraining regimes can quickly and easily be adopted, or the intensity ofthe exercise can be carefully matched to the needs of the individual.This may be particularly beneficial when training is being performed aspart of an injury rehabilitation or an active recovery process.

Preferably the means of varying the buoyancy comprises means forremovably attaching at least one piece of buoyant material to saidglove. The glove preferably comprises a pocket for receiving said atleast one piece of buoyant material; preferably the pocket is locatedinternally within said glove. In a preferred design the pocket extendsfrom adjacent the wrist area of the glove to adjacent the fingertip areaof the glove on the outer side of the glove, i.e. the buoyant materialextends substantially over the back of the glove such that, in use, thepadding protects the hand when formed into a fist. In this way, thegloves can be used in partner training exercises for punching againstcontact pads or other surfaces and, as well as creating resistance tomovement, the buoyancy protects the hands from impact injuries.

The buoyant material is preferably a closed cell polymer foam material,more preferably an EVA foam.

Preferably the training equipment comprises the glove and a number ofpieces of buoyancy which may be selectively attached to the glove ontheir own or in combination to vary the buoyancy of the glove. Inparticular using differing numbers of pieces of buoyant material to varythe level of buoyancy enables the glove to be used as a quantitative forperformance and rehabilitation evaluation.

The effect of the differing buoyancies can be used in a similar way thatdifferent increasing weights can be used in strength and conditioningtraining in a gymnasium in so far as step increases can be made andperformance measured or assessed against these step changes.

In an alternative embodiment the means for varying the buoyancy of saidglove comprises at least one inflatable air pocket.

The glove may largely be made from a substantially non absorbent buoyantmaterial, for example from foamed neoprene. Being non absorbentfacilitates the drying of the glove and by using a foamed material theglove itself has some inherent buoyancy that adds to the resistancecreated by the variable buoyancy. If absorbent materials were used, notonly would the glove take much longer to dry between use, increasing thelikelihood of, for example, mould forming, but as water was absorbed,air would be displaced which would alter the buoyancy of the gloveduring the course of a training session making it hard for specifictraining regimes to be followed, particularly when training is beingundertaken for therapeutic purposes. The glove may also comprise aplurality of areas of mesh material to facilitate, after use, drainageof water from said glove.

In one preferred embodiment the glove may further comprise weights toincrease the weight of the glove. This may for example, comprise lead(or lead alternative) weights that are in the wrist area of the glove.These may be located within an openable pocket in the wrist area of theglove so that they are removable. When training in shallow water boxingtraining will often include exercises in which the hands are above thewater, exercises in which the hands are below the water, and exerciseswhich involve arm movement in which the hand passes through the surfaceof the water. The present invention, by including buoyancy and weightprovides resistance both below the water by way of resistance due toglove shape and buoyancy, and resistance above water due to theadditional weight of the gloves.

As the buoyancy is provided in the glove it is retained in the structureof the glove and, as described above, is arranged in such a way that itis wrapped around the fist. Unlike the prior art, this removes the largeareas of buoyancy that extend laterally out from the hand, in use, and,although this may reduce the physical resistance of the glove, itreduces the chance of rotational strains being placed on the wrist, armor shoulder by virtue of the offset forces that can occur in the priorart devices. By extending the buoyancy over the back of the hand whenthe hand is clenched into a fist the buoyancy is distributedergonomically around the surface of the fist. The uniform, anatomical,distribution of the buoyancy has the effect of making the fist/hand as awhole more buoyant. This even distribution provides a balanced force onthe muscles being worked and assists in preventing uneven forcedistribution, as a result of the buoyancy, in particular muscle groups.

The glove may comprise, at least in part, a mesh material. This meshmaterial preferably extends over at least the inside surface of theglove. By using a mesh material, after use, water can easily drain fromthe glove allowing it to dry. The glove may be manufacturedsubstantially from non absorbent material. This also assists in thedrying of the glove after use.

Although described in the singular it will be appreciated that in mostinstances a pair of the gloves as described above would be used, one oneach hand.

There is also provided a punch ball comprising: an inflatable bladdersubstantially enclosed in a neoprene casing; an elastic cord attached atone end to the neoprene casing; and means for attaching the elastic cordto a user. The punch ball will substantially float on the surface of thewater and may be used as a target by a user wearing the above mentionedgloves of the invention. When struck the ball will move away from theuser, stretching and elongating the elastic, and then the elastic willretract causing the ball to recoil back towards the user creating amoving target. Essentially the ball works a little like an aquatic speedball, the speed being determined by the properties of the elastic andthe chosen shape of the speedball which may be peanut ball shaped orspherical.

The aquatic training equipment preferably also comprises a belt forattaching the elastic cord to the user. The elastic cord may beremovable, the equipment further comprising at least a second elasticcord having a different elasticity from the first elastic cord. In thisway the elastic cord may be selected to match the skill and trainingintensity required by the user. A cord having a less elasticity willrequire to be punched harder to move the same distance and will returnfaster. The belt may also be buoyant.

The punch ball can be used with the gloves and may be provided as partof the equipment of the invention.

The invention will now be described by way of example only withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a prior art aqua boxing float;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a glove of the equipment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a glove of the equipment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is an end view of a variation of a the glove of FIGS. 2 and 3;and

FIG. 5 is a drawing of a punch ball of the equipment of the presentinvention;

Referring to FIG. 1 a known prior art aqua boxing float 2 is shown. Thefloat comprises a substantially rectangular piece of foam 4 having twoholes 6, 8 therein. In use the arm is placed through hole 6, the floatcurved, and the hand passing partially through hole 8 to grab the handle10. The amount of resistance provided in underwater use will be variableand will depend upon parameters such as the extent of curvature of thefloat and the looseness of the float around the arm.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 a glove 12 is shown. The glove 12 is notdissimilar in shape to a more conventional boxing glove in so far as itof a mitten type design with a wrist opening 13 with an attachment 14 onit to enable the user to tighten it around their wrist, and a mittensection 15 through into which the user's fingers extend. However, it ismore bulbous in shape at its finger end so as to offer greater frontalresistance when being moved forward through the water and greaterreverse drag when being pulled backwards through the water, therebyenabling improved reciprocal muscle group exercise. The effect of theincreased resistance is especially beneficial in deep-water running asthe extra buoyancy of the glove results in increased resistance beingfelt by the user and encourages correct anatomical alignment and optimalline of range of motion (ROM). If they are moving their arms in a nonstreamlined manner, for example if there is any crossing of the midlineto their arm movements as opposed to a purely backwards/forwardspendulum swing of the arms the drag effect will slow the user's progressthrough the water. By providing a greater resistance any improvements instreamlining their movements results in the user receiving direct andpronounced proprioceptive feedback, as they will feel less drag. Incontrast, when practicing underwater boxing the increased resistance anddrag will be felt in cross body punching movements resulting in a moreintensive antagonistic muscle group workout for the athlete.

The glove 12 has a pocket 16 on the back face of it for receiving one ormore pieces of buoyant foam 20. The pocket 16 is openable at one end atan opening 18. The opening 18 may be closable by means, for example, ofa hook and loop type fastener that when closed prevents the buoyancyfrom coming out of the glove 12. The pocket 16 may be expandable bymeans of a pleat therein to accommodate different thicknesses, ordifferent numbers of pieces, of buoyant foam 20. Additionally, oralternatively, the pocket 16 may be made of an elastomeric material sothat it can be stretched to the required size to receive the buoyantfoam 20. By placing different pieces of foam 20 of different thickness,or differing multitudes of the same thickness foam 20, in the pocket thebuoyancy of the glove 12 can be varied. Although only one piece of foamis shown, for clarity, it will be appreciated, as described herein, thatdiffering numbers of pieces of foam 20 can be inserted into the pocket16 at the same time.

The glove 12 is predominantly made of foamed neoprene sheet material sothat it has its own natural buoyancy and to facilitate easy drying. Anumber of pieces of mesh fabric 19 are provided as shown in the palmregion and in the inside of the thumb. These mesh areas assist inallowing water to drain from the glove. The mesh is preferably made of anon absorbent material so that it easily dries.

A thickened rib 21 which is approximately 2 to 3 cm in diameter, runstransversely across the glove in the mid finger region so that as theuser clenches the fist the fingers cannot over flex. Over clenching thefist, not only is detrimental in certain physical therapy exercises, forexample it can result in peripheral nerve compression, but would alsodecrease the distal cross sectional area of the glove, in use, therebylowering fluid drag and resistance. By preventing over flexion of thehand the rib 21 helps maintain the fist in alignment with the arm,thereby improving the user's upper body biomechanics.

Differing the resistance of the gloves, by the addition or removal ofbuoyancy therefrom, enables more focused and quantitative trainingregimes to be achieved. In particular an aquatic training glove isproduced wherein the resistance is provided by the buoyancy of thematerial within a defined glove structure. In this way the shape of theglove is largely unchanged which results in a very predictable uniformforce loading on the user when performing exercises by providing only anupward force on the user's arms. No rotational or twisting forces areprovided by the buoyancy. This is beneficial as rotational/twistingforces are less predictive as they are largely dependant on the user'sparticular movements and could result in aggravation of injuries.

Referring to FIG. 4 an end view of a variation of the glove of FIGS. 2and 4 is shown. Through the wrist opening 13 the pocket 16 can be seenwhich receives the foam buoyancy. On the wrist section of the glove twoadditional pockets 22, 24 are provided. These pockets receive weights(omitted for clarity) to increase the weight of the glove. The benefitsof adding weights for training, especially in shallow water whereexercises may take place both above and below water, are describedabove. Although shown externally to the glove it will be appreciatedthat the pockets 22, 24 may comprise any number of pockets and may belocated internally in the glove or internally within the wrist area.

As will be appreciated, while only one glove is described herein, whenused the gloves will be used as a pair with one glove on each hand. Asthe buoyancy is variable in each glove each glove may, if required, beprovided with different buoyancies to focus the training more on oneside of the body than the other.

Referring to FIG. 5 an aquatic punch ball 26 is shown. The punch ballcomprises an inflatable bladder 27 which is substantially enclosed in aneoprene shell 28. The shell 28 is attached to one end of an elasticcord 30 and the other end of the elastic cord 30 is attached to abuoyancy belt 32.

In use the buoyancy belt is attached around the user's waist and impartssome vertical buoyancy to the user. The ball 26 will float on top of thewater, retained by the elastic cord. As the user punches at the ball 26it will be forced away from them stretching the elastic cord 30. Theball 26 will then return towards the user who can again punch at theball. The elastic cord 30 is removably attached to the belt 32 and theball 26 and may be replaced with alternative cord 30 of differingelasticity. This will affect the range of movement of the ball and theforce of the return of the ball 26. The punch ball can be used with thegloves of the invention.

The buoyancy belt comprises a belt that extends around the users waistand a piece of buoyant foam material 34 that is attached to the beltsuch that when worn the buoyancy is located behind the wearer. As thegloves, in use, are predominantly in of the user then, by using with abuoyancy belt 32 having the buoyancy 34 that is located posterior to theuser, rotational forces on the user are substantially cancelled out.Furthermore, the main area of natural buoyancy in a person, namely thelungs are located in of the spine. By placing the buoyancy behind thespine rotational effects of the user's natural buoyancy in water aremore balanced encouraging the user to have a more upright stance whenusing the gloves, thereby contributing to improved biomechanics. As thebelt extends around the outside of the foam of the buoyancy belt, thefoam also acts as a shock absorber to dissipate the pressure exerted onthe user when the ball is struck and distributes it across the pelvisand lower back as opposed to it only exerting pressure at the waistregion which would be the case if the belt did not extend around thefoam.

1. Aquatic training equipment comprising: a glove configured to receivea user's hand; wherein the glove is provided with a selectively variablebuoyancy.
 2. The aquatic training equipment according to claim 1,wherein the glove comprises an assembly for removably attaching at leastone piece of buoyant material to the glove.
 3. The aquatic trainingequipment according to claim 2, wherein the glove comprises a pocket forreceiving the at least one piece of buoyant material.
 4. The aquatictraining equipment according to claim 3, wherein the pocket is locatedinternally within the glove.
 5. The aquatic training equipment accordingto claim 3, wherein the pocket extends from adjacent a wrist area of theglove to adjacent a fingertip area of the glove on an outer side of theglove.
 6. The aquatic training equipment according to claim 1 comprisingat least one piece of buoyant foam material for selective attachment tothe glove.
 7. The aquatic training equipment according to claim 6comprising a plurality of pieces of buoyant foam material for selectiveattachment to the glove.
 8. The aquatic training equipment according toclaim 6 wherein the buoyant foam material comprises a closed cellpolymer foam material.
 9. The aquatic training equipment according toclaim 1, wherein the glove comprises at least one inflatable air pocket.10. The aquatic training equipment according to claim 1, wherein theglove is manufactured substantially from non-absorbent buoyant material.11. The aquatic training equipment according to claim 1, wherein theglove is substantially made of foamed neoprene.
 12. The aquatic trainingequipment according to claim 10 comprising a plurality of areas of meshmaterial to facilitate, after use, drainage of water from the glove. 13.The aquatic training equipment according to claim 1 further comprisingweights to increase a weight of the glove
 14. Aquatic training equipmentcomprising a pair of gloves as claimed in claim
 1. 15. The aquatictraining equipment according to claim 1 further comprising a punch ballcomprising: an inflatable bladder substantially enclosed in a neoprenecasing; an elastic cord attached at one end to the neoprene casing; andmeans for attaching the elastic cord to a user.
 16. The aquatic trainingequipment according to claim 15 further comprising a belt for attachingthe elastic cord to the user.
 17. The aquatic training equipmentaccording to claim 16 wherein the elastic cord is a first elastic cordand is removable, the aquatic training equipment further comprising atleast a second elastic cord having a different elasticity that the firstelastic cord.
 18. The aquatic training equipment according to claim 16wherein the belt is buoyant.